School lunch is often synonymous with loud noise. Studies have shown the decibel level in some cafeterias is as high as a lawnmower! Every so often, though, students at Alice Terry Elementary southwest of Denver trade talking for live music. It’s a new experience for students in this high-poverty district.

This is a transcript of CPR education reporter Jenny Brundin's story:

Reporter Jenny Brundin: When the music teacher told students here they’d occasionally have a “silent” lunch break, this was the reaction:

Student: Why, why do we need silent lunch, is it because we’re too loud or something?!

Brundin: Nah…impossible! Actually, that is the reason there’s a growing movement nationally to have “silent” lunches. But that’s not the reason music teacher Ami Hall got the idea to turn down the volume. She knew students here didn’t have a lot of exposure to live instruments. Hall herself likes to go to concerts and live jazz clubs, so she started asking musicians to come in at lunch.

Ami Hall: When you give the kids a chance to hear something that is outside of their range, it allows them to be curious, and if they’re curious, they’re learners in every subject.

Reporter: When she told students a “saxophonist” was coming, it was perplexing.

Student: I thought, what can that music thing that they were using…could be?!

(Music)

Reporter: Students soon were looking at a shiny gold saxophone played by Harold Rapp, a local musician. The kids were entranced. And as Hall had theorized, being quiet at lunch allowed the kids to think about what they were hearing and how it was affecting them.

Student 1: The music makes me calmer, and it doesn’t make me shout out or do something crazy.